Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Anastasia Pink.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium and referred to by the name xe2x80x98Anastasia Pinkxe2x80x99.
The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor in a controlled environment in ""s-Gravenzande, The Netherlands, as a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Anastasia, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,550. The new plant was discovered within a population of plants of the cultivar Anastasia and was selected on the basis of its unique pink-colored ray florets.
Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum by terminal cuttings harvested in ""s-Gravenzande, The Netherlands since January 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Anastasia Pink has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Anastasia Pinkxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Anastasia Pinkxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Large quilled spider double-type inflorescences with pink-colored ray florets; typically grown as a disbudded type with a single inflorescence per flowering stem.
2. Numerous ray florets and very few disc florets; disc florets typically inconspicuous.
3. Dark green-colored foliage.
4. Strong and upright flowering stems.
5. Low number of lateral branches which reduces the amount of disbudding required.
6. Short response time.
7. Excellent postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are most similar to plants of the parent cultivar Anastasia. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in ""s-Gravenzande, The Netherlands, plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed primarily from plants of the cultivar Anastasia in ray floret coloration as plants of the cultivar Anastasia had white-colored ray florets.